We decide a couple of years ago, actually more like 3 that we would really like to buy a bigger boat and go cruising. We started reading Lin and Larry Pardeys books, and found that the most interesting parts of the books were learning about the people they befriended and the cultures they encountered in their many travels. Additionally It soon became apparent that there is a tremendous kinship within the cruising community. It is almost as if it is a huge traveling commune where the members are constantly changing, forever replenishing with new faces of similar motivation. Lots of expertise from nearly every walk of life, all with the same dream, sail the oceans in quest of adventure. To see life at a different pace and a different perspective. And for me, to be a little more self sufficient /reliant. Yes we will need diesel for the auxillary, and gasoline for the outboard on the inflatable, propane for the stove/oven. But with the help of a wind generator, a couple of solar panels and the ever blowing trade winds, our main energy demand, 12v DC electricity will be replenished by the elements, sun and wind.
Our education continued as we took many class at the boat show in Seattle, and attended offshore cruising seminars and a very intense first aid class. Patti now knows how to give me a shot of lidacane before she sutures up the cut I am sure to get. Our library grew to fill the book case with books on everything from anchoring to first aid to advanced weather forecasting. Patti took classes put on for women, by women. These were all day sessions where she learned about diesel engine maintenance, sail repair and sail trim, anchoring, docking etc.
On the practical front, we raced our Ranger 33 in the Wednesday night bouy races in 2007, 2008 and 2009. This was a great time for us to work on our communications and boat maneuvering in tight quarters. Patti drove and I would trim, teach and strategize. We did really well in 2009, but not so well the other years. Patti’s confidence really soared as she was solely responsible for driving the boat. She did everything, from leaving the dock to coming back to the dock, and everything in-between . She did great. She even raced without me a couple of times when I was in Florida on business. She called friends and off they went.
We started looking at boats in 06. Yachtworld is a really cool web site. (www.yachtworld.com) We spent hours upon hours researching boats, equipment, places to go, places not to go and how to get there. We went to an offshore cruising seminar, one of those all day and dinner kind of deals that makes you brain hurt. It was actually a lot of fun, but ended up being really an outline of where to go to get the real good info. One of the best tips that we got was the name of a very respected broker, Michael Locatell, Discovery Yachts in Seattle, who we sat next to both during the class and at dinner. This friendship became invaluable as we were constantly asking him for advice on different boats and cruising areas. One of the resources that we got at the seminar was a cruising handbook, which along with discussion of what gear to take and which brand works best, was a description of the criteria for a blue water cruising boat. This couple, John and Amanda Neal, have spent over 20 years sailing the seven seas. They hold classes in 1, 2, and 3 week sessions along theroute that they take between New Zealand and the Swedish Artic circle region. Their boat recommendations come after years of cruising the most popular areas in the world, and interviewing sailors about their experiences with their boats. This really helped us refine our own criteria. In the end we really only had a few criteria that “The Boat” had to meet.
Center Cockpit; these designs usually have a nice aft cabin living quarters and good access to the engine..
Double head sail or cutter rig; Best configuration for shortening sail when the wind picks up.
Skeg Hung Rudder; good safety feature at sea.
¾ cruising keel; better mobility and speed than a full keel boat.
5 foot draft; This was not much of a criteria for west coast boats but it was really important for east cost boats.
We bought a Whitby 42 in Florida named “Dream Ketcher”. I have started a new album, labeled S/V Dream Ketcher.
When our boat search started were were not concerned about where the boat was. We figured that we would just deal with it. East coast or west coast we didn’t really care, initially.
One of the many blogs that we followed was of a young couple with little or no money who bought a Ranger 33 (Just like our old boat). Their boat was in Massachusets and needed a lot of work. They eventually finished up and started down the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway. I had no idea that such a thing existed. It stretches from Main to Brownsville Texas. Suddenly I wanted to cruise the AICW. So now you know why we bought a boat in Florida.
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